Chapter 2 Notes from Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn Chapter 2

Tom and Huck creep into the trees and climb down to the widow's garden. They see Miss Watson's slave, Jim, sitting at the kitchen door. They try to be quiet so Jim won't hear them, but Jim hears noises anyway. He keeps on asking, "Who's there?" Huck itches all over and tries not to scratch himself so he doesn't make any noise. Tom plays a joke on Jim and secretly hangs his hat above his head. Afterwards, Jim tells stories to all the other slaves about how witches bewitched him that night.

Tom and Huck eventually make it to the top of the hill. They go down the hill and meet up with a couple of their buddies. They all go down the river and Tom shows them a hole in the hill; it opens up into a cave and they all go in. Tom tells them that they're going to start a band of robbers called "Tom Sawyer's Gang." Everyone has to take an oath to the group and write their names in blood. There is talk over what they'll do if any of them tell the gang's secrets to others. Tom suggests that they kill the person and the person's family as a consequence for violating gang secrets. A question arises over what to do about Huck. He doesn't really have a family, just a drunkard for a father, Pap, who Huck never sees.

Huck offers Miss Watson as a replacement. They all talk about what they're going to do as robbers and Tom insists that they have to do what is written in the books, including holding people for ransom.

"'Ransomed? What's that?'

'I don't know. But that's what they do. I've seen it in books; and so of course that's what we've got to do.'

'But how can we do it if we don't know what it is?'

'Why blame it all, we've got to do it. Don't I tell you it's in the books? Do you want to go to doing different from what's in the books, and get things all muddled up?'" Chapter 2, pg. 9

Tom is elected first captain, they end the meeting, and discuss a next time to meet. They all go home.